Re: [PATCH] gitweb: merge boolean feature subroutines

[demerphq <demerphq@gmail.com>]

2009/1/3 Matt Kraai <kraai@ftbfs.org>:
> On Sat, Jan 03, 2009 at 05:18:44PM +0100, demerphq wrote:
>> 2009/1/3 Matt Kraai <kraai@ftbfs.org>:
>> [...]
>> > -sub feature_blame {
>> > -       my ($val) = git_get_project_config('blame', '--bool');
>> > +sub feature_bool {
>> > +       my $key = shift;
>> > +       my ($val) = git_get_project_config($key, '--bool');
>> >
>> >        if ($val eq 'true') {
>> >                return 1;
>>
>> Maybe that should be:
>>
>>            return ($val eq 'true');
>>
>> as It is not a good idea to use 0 as a replacement for perls false, as
>> the two have different behaviour.
>>
>> $perl -wle'my $val=shift; my $x=$val eq "true"; print "<$_>" for $x, 0+$x' false
>> <>
>> <0>
>
> I don't think Perl has *a* false value, but rather has multiple values
> that are treated as false, such as undef, zero, and the empty string.
> Personally, I find 0 clearer than the empty string, but that's
> probably just my C bias sneaking in.

Yes it definitely does have a false value, PL_sv_no, and a true value,
PL_sv_yes (although it is much less important).  It is these values
which are copied to signify true and false in the cases where the
internals need to, such as for boolean operators that must return
false, and things like negation and (in)equality checks.

It is a so called "dual var" SvPVNV, with 0 in the NV (numeric) slot
and the empty string in the PV (string) slot.

You can see one example of its behaviour in my previous mail, and can
see it further here:

$ perl -MDevel::Peek -e'print Dump(shift @ARGV eq "true")'
SV = PVNV(0x952eb10) at 0x952b6f0
  REFCNT = 2147483647
  FLAGS = (IOK,NOK,POK,READONLY,pIOK,pNOK,pPOK)
  IV = 0
  NV = 0
  PV = 0x952eae8 ""\0
  CUR = 0
  LEN = 4

Compare that to:

perl -MDevel::Peek -e'print Dump(shift @ARGV eq "true" ? 1 : 0)'
SV = IV(0x94d8398) at 0x94bd678
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (PADBUSY,PADTMP,IOK,READONLY,pIOK)
  IV = 0

> All of the boolean feature values use 0 or 1, so if this should be
> changed, I think it should probably be done as a separate patch.

As you think is best. It is after all a nit, and probably one that is
harmless. But I've been bitten by people not using the languages
native booleans before, and well, once bitten twice shy.

cheers,
Yves
-- 
perl -Mre=debug -e "/just|another|perl|hacker/"